Woodland receives a serve during Tuesday afternoon’s girls volleyball non-league matchup against Darien.
The Woodland girls volleyball team lost for the first time this season on Tuesday, 3-0, to state powerhouse Darien in Beacon Falls.
That wasn’t the story. The story was the tremendous effort the Hawks (11-1 overall, 11-0 Naugatuck Valley) put together against a Blue Wave squad that could attack them from every spot on the court, and with far more height than any other team on the schedule will show this season.
Woodland head coach Jim Amato and senior Lindsay Koliani were both proud of the effort the team put forth.
“We didn’t lose,” Amato said afterward. “We got beat.”
Koliani tallied 12 kills, 13 digs and 14 serve-receives. Fellow senior Ava Bianchini had 10 kills, three aces, 14 digs and nine serve-receives. Senior Sophia Ligi served up a pair of aces off the bench, and senior Adelina Jahja recorded two blocks. Junior Hannah Mishler passed out 21 assists.
The highlight of the afternoon came in the first set. Woodland faced set point with Darien leading, 24-14. In a point that lasted over a minute of real time and included diving digs by players on both teams, Koliani’s two-hand push toward the Blue Wave bench ended the point in favor of the Hawks. It set off a loud celebration from the players on the court and on the bench. Darien won the set, but Woodland showed it belonged.
The Hawks got closer in the second set, then put up a major fight in the third. There were ties galore, but then Woodland took the lead. After back-to-back kills by Bianchini and Koliani, it was 19-15. The Blue Wave battled back, but senior Leah Valentino’s cross-kill had the Hawks ahead, 23-21. Two straight points from Darien tied the set, 23-23, and forced a Woodland timeout. Koliani got the Hawks to set point with a kill, 24-23, but the Blue Wave claimed the next three points to take the set and the match.
What Woodland can take from Tuesday’s match is confidence that it can play with anyone. That’s an important feeling to have as the NVL schedule heats up, beginning with Friday’s home match against Naugatuck at 6 p.m. There’s two matches against Seymour on Oct. 10 and 17, one more against Naugatuck on Oct. 18, and one last tilt with Holy Cross on Oct. 21 to close out the regular season.
GALLERY: Here are my photos from Tuesday’s Woodland match.
